In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Navy personnel recovered and buried only four unknowns associated with the Oklahoma in Nuuanu Cemetery from December 8 through December 16, 1941. In addition to these unknowns, twenty-nine crew members of USS Oklahoma were identified and buried in either Nuuanu or Halawa Naval Cemetery during this same time frame. The vast majority of the unknown servicemen of the Oklahoma were recovered from the ship during salvaging operations. These recoveries, conducted initially by divers and salvaging crews as they prepared the Oklahoma for righting and continued once the ship had been re-floated, resulted in a total of fifty-two burials, representing approximately four hundred individuals. The recoveries began with the initiation of salvaging on 15 July 1942 and ended on 10 May 1944, with the majority of remains being removed from the ship after it had been righted.
In September 1947, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred these two cemeteries and moved the remains to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory (Schofield CIL), located at the AGRS Pacific Zone Headquarters, in order to effect or confirm identifications and return the men to their next of kin for burial (but was not done). The remains awaited final burial on the shelves of Schofield Mausoleum #2. By 1947, Congress and veteran organizations placed a great deal of pressure on the military to find a permanent burial site in Hawaii for the remains of thousands of World War II servicemen awaiting permanent burial. Subsequently, the Army again began planning the Punchbowl cemetery; in February 1948 Congress approved funding and construction began.The first interment was made Jan. 4, 1949.
By the spring of 1950, the approximately 390 unknowns from the USS Oklahoma had been buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in sixty-one caskets interred in forty-five Mass Grave locations. Including those dis-interned from the other local cemeteries to be interned all together in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Section/Plot—Unknowns Present
P 0989*——-7 unknowns
P 0991*——12 unknowns
P 0993——-10 unknowns
P 0995——-12 unknowns
P 0997——-12 unknowns
P 0999*——-9 unknowns
P 1001——-11 unknowns
P 1002**—–(7 unknowns)
P 1003*——-10 unknowns
P 1005*—–12 unknowns
P 1126——-12 unknowns
P 1128———9 unknowns
P 1130——-12 unknowns
P 1132——-12 unknowns
P 1134——-11 unknowns
Q 0001——–6 unknowns
Q 0002——–7 unknowns
Q 0003——–7 unknowns
Q 0004——–7 unknowns
Q 0005——–7 unknowns
Q 0006——–7 unknowns
Q 0007——–7 unknowns
Q 0008——–7 unknowns
Q 0009——–7 unknowns
Q 0010——–6 unknowns
Q 0011——–7 unknowns
Q 0133——–7 unknowns
Q 0134——–7 unknowns
Q 0135——–7 unknowns
Q 0136——–7 unknowns
Q 0137——–7 unknowns
Q 0139——–7 unknowns
Q 0140——–7 unknowns
Q 0138——–7 unknowns
Q 0141——–7 unknowns
Q 0142——–7 unknowns
Q 0143——–7 unknowns
Q 0144——–7 unknowns
Q 0177*——–1 unknown
Q 0323——–7 unknowns
Q 0325——–7 unknowns
Q 0326——–7 unknowns
Q 0327——–7 unknowns
Q 0495*—–21 unknowns
Q 0496*—–22 unknowns
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Total 389 unknowns
* Grave photo on Right
**The remains originally buried at P 1002 were disinterred by the Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii (now JPAC), and removed to the laboratory for forensic analysis and identification. No Stone at the Plot until any remains return.
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On 18 June 2003 the
casket at Section P, Plot 1002, NMCP was disinterred and transported to the CILHI where it was accessioned as CIL 2003-116 for scientific analysis.
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Sep 05, 2008
Remains of 3 sailors from USS Oklahoma identified
Thursday, the Pentagon announced that the remains of Ensign Eldon Wyman of Portland, Oregon, Ensign Irvin A.R. Thompson of Hudson County, N.J., and Fireman 2nd Class Lawrence Boxrucker of Dorchester, Wis had been identified, and their remains would be returned to their families.
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The total current number of unresolved casualties from USS Oklahoma to 387.
Thanks to Find A Grave
